Rallies planned

As the elections approaches we receive warning message’s one after another. Press reporting indicates that both political parties UNITA and MPLA are planning rallies to take place throughout the country this Saturday. And we promised Maarten to go to the beach!

There have been announced series of manifestations, large stationary groups are expected, possible flashpoints could be anywhere in the city. Also the school will be closed for the election days. Today a trip to the supermarket took me 3 hours as the traffic was jammed by convoy of vehicles overloaded with singing UNITA followers.

PS: The picture of billboard featuring Angolan president is for illustrative purpose only and doesn’t represent my political view in this question.

Bad mommy!

First day of school. As usual, Maarten went by bus all by himself. I didn’t even think of accompanying him as he is always so proud to be independent. But once at the campus he couldn’t find his new classroom. He panicked, running all over the place and ended up crying, until someone noticed him and helped him out.

Any suggestions?!

I’ve got him! Finally! I found him! Now I will never let him go! Can I keep him? Please?!! I will teach him to obey me. Maarten is holding a snake up by the middle of its body. The snake is moving really fast trying to extricate from Maarten’s grip. Toss it!! Immediately! That’s the only think I can do as Maarten is deep down the trail at the river bank… It wa probably only a grass snake and I’m really glad that we were not in Angola at that moment. But, please, most of the year we live in tropical Africa!

While Maarten and I were enjoying the summer in Europe our home was moved again. Our new compound is further away from the city center and adjacent to agricultural lands. There is a lot of new construction going on. Digging, grading and trenching surely destroys the natural habitat. No wonder that wildlife finds its way into our back yards. Last week they found a 5 feet long snake in front of the neighbor’s house and couple of weeks before even a black mamba in the neighboring compound! It seems we will have to take some drastic measures to prevent our son from catching everything that crawls around. Any suggestions?!

To all my friends who still wonder

A life without adventure is likely to be unsatisfying, but a life in which adventure is allowed to take whatever form it will is sure to be short. -- Bertrand Russell PS: Found on a plane on our way back to Luanda.

Just across the street from our compound

This info just came in via email: Allegedly, an expat family was robbed at gunpoint at the Mundo Verde Shop, Talatona. After doing their purchases at the shop, they were confronted by an unknown amount of armed robbers. Their money were taken off them and then the criminals took off. Whilst this was in progress, an armed soldier who was in the vicinity, took a shot at the criminals, but instead shot an innocent bystander. It is not known what happened afterwards with the injured person. Everything has become a bit threatening because of the upcoming elections in late August. Unfortunately, the school starts in mid August again.... So you see, you should always be very aware of your surroundings around here. You can not just go anywhere you would like to, not even walk across the street to do your grocery shopping.

Just wondering,

how smart is it to exchange Angolan winter for Dutch summer? About to find out!

Antimalarials?

Last day of school yesterday and Maarten and I started the summer break off (or should I say winter break?) by visiting the clinic and got tested for malaria. Luckily, we both tested negative, however, discussing the antimalarial medications with the physician made me even more confused. How do I make the right decision for my child?

School Report Year 2

Teacher Comments: ...he often catches insects and brings them into class to share with the other students. He is appreciative of all life forms and shows great care when handling lizards, centipedes, grasshopers and moths... Student Reflections: ...I learned that when the grass dies the grasshoppers die, when there are no grasshopers the frogs die, when there are no frogs, the snakes will die. When there are no animals we will be sad. Some people are not nice and throw garbage on the ground. I made a butterfly out of materials to show the life cycle...

Scout Wacky Olympics

During our pre assignment visit we met a nice couple who told us about a group of Boys Scouts here in Luanda. And because Maarten did enjoy the Scouting in Belgium (well, until his beloved leader got married) I thought this might be something for him. On Sunday the Girls Scouts and Boys Scouts together organized the Wacky Olympics. They started with carrying the torch around the park before participating in numerous fun games, most involving water. All the kids had a blast and after a medal ceremony there was also a vegetarian buffet but more important, they had grilled hot dogs! Maarten was sold! PS: I noticed that at all this kind of events we come across the same people again and again. It's just like in the Truman show.

Children's Day

After weeks of preparations today there was a party at the orphanage organized by a group of volunteers to celebrate the Day of the Child. It was a great event full of dancing and singing. However, there was something that I disapproved. Some expat ladies forced the small kids to take a picture with them. They just approached them and tried to make them smile only for the photo leaving a confused child behind without a hug or a friendly word.